October 30, 2018

October 17, 2018

After a week's vacation, I returned to my desk Oct. 15 and read through the past week's editions of Today in Food to refresh myself on what I had missed. Immediately, I found a common thread in our Washington section: class action lawsuits focused on labeling.

September 7, 2018

FDA extended the compliance dates for the Nutrition Facts and Supplement Facts label final rule and the Serving Size final rule until 2020 for larger manufacturers and 2021 for smaller businesses. That means we are almost at the one year mark from the January 1, 2020, deadline for manufacturers with $10 million or more in annual food sales.

July 25, 2018

July 10, 2018

USDA officials unveiled details regarding the Wildfires and Hurricane Indemnity Program (WHIP) at meetings in Florida the week of July 2. The program, which will include about $2.6 billion worth of funding, is expected to help the state's citrus producers that are dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, which struck the state...

May 30, 2018

In late March, eight customers that visited fast food restaurants in New Jersey were rushed to hospitals with classic symptoms of E. coli. These eight people represented the first of nearly 200 that would eventually be sickened by the disease, and it would be weeks before a culprit was found. That culprit, as it turns out,...

January 11, 2018

The food and beverage industry is facing an unprecedented number of threats from class action cases alleging misleading labeling and advertising. Approximately two new lawsuits against manufacturers, distributors and retailers were filed each week in 2017! In addition, dozens more food and beverage industry members received demand letters that threatened the commencement of such cases and demanded the...

October 18, 2017

If you've been following the Food Institute in any capacity over the course of the past year, you know we've been keeping our eyes on sugary beverage taxes, or "soda taxes." We've reported on some benefits and some of the negatives, but this is a first: Cook County, IL, repealed its soda...

September 11, 2017

For many children throughout the country, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are a staple. And if we are being honest, it remains a frequent aspect of my adult diet, as well. However, with the rising prevalence of peanut allergy cases in the U.S. that manifested over the past two decades, many institutions and locations have enacted partial or full bans of peanut products to protect those...

August 18, 2017

Cook County, IL, first approved a penny-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks, in hopes of raising $200 million a year, in November 2016. It was the seventh local government in the U.S. to pass such a levy, and was by far the largest area. The tax was originally set to go into effect July 1 but was delayed several times due to lawsuits. Now that the tax is...

August 4, 2017

July 27, 2017

There has been much debate about instituting sugary drink taxes, specifically in Philadelphia where one was put into place in six months ago. Some argue that it will improve consumer health and boost revenue for much needed initiatives, while others say it places an unfair burden on soda manufacturers and hurts low-income shoppers.

July 11, 2017

Over the next few months, Syngenta will need to weather numerous class action lawsuits alleging the company sold GMO corn seeds that were not approved in foreign markets. The lawsuits argue that because the seeds were legal in the U.S. but not yet approved in foreign markets, the price of U.S. corn dropped as the produce would be rejected in markets outside of the U.S.

April 19, 2017

Health proponents hail them, and sweetened beverage makers demonize them: so-called "soda" taxes are popping up across the country, and they are creating waves in the food industry. However, the question of whether or not the taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are effective remains to be seen.

February 22, 2017

When it comes to regulatory legal battles, it is often the case that two opposing sides are pitted against each other. Washington state is contending with an interesting situation regarding proposed discharge permits for dairies and other concentrated animal feeding operations: it's facing opposition from both environmental groups and the dairy industry for very different reasons.

January 24, 2017

The 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal was released almost exactly one year ago, and it was well on its way to becoming ratified. However, with a new president in the U.S., it looks as if the deal may never come to fruition.

December 21, 2016

Daily readers of Today in Food likely have noticed a trend in our Washington section over the past few years. From Hershey's to McCormick Spices and seemingly every company in between, food and beverage producers are contending with class-action...

November 22, 2016

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact has been a topic of much contention, not just in the recent U.S. presidential election, but basically since its inception. The U.S. has been largely torn on whether it will help or hurt the country's economy, but leaders of the other 11 countries involved in the deal see it as a vital part of their countries' advancement.

July 19, 2016

The ongoing debate over GMO labeling is gaining a national spotlight as the U.S. federal government decides whether to enact a mandatory labeling regulation across the entire country that will circumvent any state-by-state laws, such as the one recently implemented in Vermont.

June 14, 2016

The Department of Labor released the final rule updating the overtime regulations, which will automatically extend overtime pay protections to over 4 million workers within the first year of implementation. Starting on Dec. 1, 2016, the initial increases...

May 2, 2016

Making a claim about a product is at the center of marketing, and for food sector businesses, this couldn't be more true. Consumers are constantly on the lookout for healthier products, more natural foods and other specialized products, and without proper advertising claims, food companies would miss out on potential customers every day. However, this doesn't mean food claims should be issued without thought; an untrue or misleading claim could lead to fines and class-action lawsuits that can potentially cost businesses millions.

March 8, 2016

You don't need to be a food industry expert to know that there is a serious debate going on about genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Pro and con arguments about GMOs have been circulating in the media for some time now, but it is more recently shifting from a question of "should these ingredients be allowed in our food?" to simply "should consumers even be told when these ingredients are in their food?"

February 24, 2016

It's hard to believe that the Food Institute Blog is already over a year old. One of the topics we covered heavily in the early days of the blog concerned the West Coast port slowdown. While it obviously affected commerce across the economic spectrum, we covered reports of agricultural losses from California to Washington for various commodities,...

February 3, 2016

In 2015, a number of major companies in the food industry were forced to deal with the backlash surrounding a foodborne illness tied to their products. Chipotle Mexican Grill was the focus of scrutiny following an e. coli outbreak surrounding its West Coast stores and a norovirus outbreak linked to a Boston location.

October 20, 2015

Addressing climate change and instituting eco-friendly business practices are increasingly important to today's consumers. It is not only essential for food to be natural and sustainable, but for the company as a whole to implement environmental initiatives. Analysts at Mintel predict this interest in "green" business won't dissolve in the coming...

July 9, 2015

Even when FDA published the final rule requiring disclosure of certain nutrition information for standard menu items in certain restaurants and retail food establishments in December 2014, they admitted that it wasn't a simple rule to understand, and many organizations were concerned about how fast they needed to comply. FDA also estimated that the new regulations would come with a price tag of between $111 million and $118 million a year for establishments.

December 4, 2018

It's certainly not over, but farmers and food producers may receive a few months' respite as tariffs in the Sino-U.S. trade war will not escalate for 90 days. Additionally, they can at least look forward to a new normal as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) moves forward to full ratification.

September 12, 2018

Summer is quickly succumbing to fall, and farmers are preparing to harvest one of autumn's favorite treats. No, I'm not talking about apples, although production seems to be on the rise. And no, I'm not talking about pumpkins, the Halloween and Thanksgiving staple. I'm talking about cranberries.

June 13, 2018

Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) will not be reinstated in the U.S., according to a judgment from the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Washington issued June 5, despite the court's acknowledgement that the removal of the labeling law caused red meat producers in the U.S. harm.

May 16, 2018

Business is never easy, and those undertaking the rigors of bankruptcy proceedings know this struggle all too well. Here at the Food Institute, we currently have our eyes trained on four food industry bankruptcies.

January 31, 2018

Making food can be a tricky proposition in the modern era. First, you need to balance the taste of a product with its nutrition. Then, you need to successfully market the product to retailers and consumers. And throughout, you need to worry about labeling mistakes and how much that could cost your company.

November 15, 2017

Hurricane Irma was not kind to Florida's citrus industry, which was already besieged by dwindling production and citrus greening disease. In an effort to defend Florida's iconic agricultural industry, both federal and state government programs are working to protect this year's crop.

October 5, 2017

Led Zeppelin released Led Zeppelin II on Halloween of 1969, and the following year, "Whole Lotta Love" was released as the lead single for the record. Although an interpretation of the song's lyrics might not be appropriate for the Food Institute Blog, if you read...

August 30, 2017

If you've been reading The Food Institute Blog, you know that sugar-sweetened beverage taxes have been one of the hottest topics in the food industry over the past two years. Proponents note the potential health benefits of such taxes, while...

July 17, 2017

By now, if you haven't heard about the Amazon deal to purchase Whole Foods Market, you've clearly been living under a rock. In the wake of the news, much of the press has focused on how Amazon can disrupt the grocery industry, how the logistical support of the e-commerce giant will push Whole Foods to the forefront of the emerging grocery delivery industry and how Amazon could plug the 365 brand into its online store almost immediately.

January 31, 2017

Chicago's plastic bag fee is scheduled to go into effect Feb. 1, charging customers who don't bring their own reusable shopping bags to the grocery store seven cents per bag. The city hopes the fee will cut down the use of disposable bags, which typically end up in landfills. This tax replaces a previous ban on lightweight plastic bags, which wasn't as...

January 5, 2017

Class action lawsuits are becoming a pretty common occurrence in the food industry, as consumers become more aware and concerned about how their food is made. Just these past two days, three more suits were reported or updated against Nestle, Hershey's and ConAgra.

December 5, 2016

Is there anything more polarizing thna genetically-modified crops? Proponents note that the GMO traits allow farm products to be perfected and grown even in the most adverse conditions, while those against the production technique cite health and...

November 10, 2016

Two days after the U.S. Presidential Election, the world is starting to make predictions about what President Elect Donald J. Trump will accomplish in office, and how that will impact the economy, businesses, and the country as a whole. While many other officials were elected on Nov. 8, and many read more

June 22, 2016

Every morning about this time, she gets me out of my bed a-crying. Get a job! After breakfast every day, she throws the want ads right my way, and never fails to say. Get a job! So goes the first verse to the famous 1957 doo-wop song by the Silhouettes. While Get a Job was amazingly successful, reaching the number one spot on both the Billboard pop and R&B charts, those trying to get a job today are likely going to become...

May 25, 2016

On May 20, the FDA finally unveiled long-awaited changes to the trusty and omnipresent Nutrition Facts labels Americans rely on for information regarding their food. Over the past twenty years, the minimalist, black-and-white label served as a guide of...

April 28, 2016

The food industry is extremely competitive, and companies need to do anything they can to set themselves apart. This means businesses are constantly making claims about their products, like what kinds of ingredients they use, how their products are supplied, and what their company...

March 1, 2016

When eating at a restaurant, diners have a lot of decisions to make. What kind of food do I feel like eating? How much do I want to spend? How healthy do I want my meal to be? Some of those questions may be easier than others to settle, but one is increasingly getting help from regulatory officials. There are a lot of proposals in place to make sure consumers can make healthy choices when eating out, such as calorie labeling on menus or limits on...

February 19, 2016

If you search "best if used by" on Google, you'll find a plethora of results, some with "experts" detailing why "sell by" and "best by" dates mean nothing, and others with concerned consumers asking "can I use x product if it's past the sell by/best by date?" One result even involves a read more

November 12, 2015

The term "natural" has always been used pretty loosely in the food industry. Companies generally put it on their products to portray a sense of quality, while consumers assume the items with that claim are made without artificial ingredients, preservatives, or even that they are organic. However, there is no real definition of "natural," and using the term can cause confusion among...

September 24, 2015

The fight over whether workers for delivery companies like Instacart, Caviar and DoorDash should be considered independent contractors or traditional employees has been going on for quite some time. Some companies claim they are not technically employing the delivery personnel, but simply facilitating the interaction between the customer and...

March 30, 2015

It's no secret that Americans are dealing with health issues stemming from their food choices. Nearly two-thirds of people over 20 years of age are overweight, and a third of Americans over age 20 are obese. Obesity is known to lead to a variety of health...

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